Fettuccine with Chicken & Brussels Spouts

When my husband and I married it is safe to say that I had zero cooking skills.  Well that isn't exactly true what young adult hasn't mastered Mac&Cheese?

Thus my parents gave me the Reader's Digest Great Chicken Dishes cookbook for Christmas the first year we were married.  And though it took me a couple of years to use it I have found more winners that losers within it pages.  Below is a little gem of a recipe I tried out this last week. Originally the recipe called for Asparagus but my asparagus had gone bad before I got around to making this.  As I happened to have a bag of Brussels Sprouts in the freezer, and a mother in law on her way for dinner, Fettuccine with Chicken & Brussels Sprouts was born.  Enjoy!

Fettuccine with Chicken & Brussels Sprouts


1 package frozen Brussels Sprouts
10 oz Fettuccine
1 Tbs Butter
1/2 Onion minced
3/4 lbs Chicken cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp dried Tarragon
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

1.  In a large pot of boiling water cook Brussels Sprouts according to package directions, remove and rinse under cold water.  In the same pot cook Fettuccine. Reserve some of the pasta water.
2.  In a large skillet melt Butter over medium heat.  Add Onion and cook stirring frequently, 5 minutes or so.  Add Chicken and cook until mostly done.
3.  Add Chicken Broth, Cream, Salt, Tarragon, and Black Pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook until sauce is slightly thickened and Chicken is cooked through.  Add Brussels Sprouts and 1/4 cup or so of the pasta water.  Cook until heated through, 1 minute or so.
4.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl, toss with pasta.  Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Minestrone Soup

Have you ever had the soup, salad, and bread sticks at The Olive Garden?  My best girlfriend and I in high school used to love treating ourselves after mock trials competitions.  

Well this recipe is just as tasty and much healthier!  As I was totally underwhelmed with the new recipes I tried last week I thought I would post this favorite of mine.  Fabulous in the slow cooker with a loaf of homemade wheat bread or dressed up with a slice of baguette and a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan.  Enjoy!

Minestrone Soup

3 Tbs Olive Oil

3 cloves Garlic minced

2 Onions chopped

2 cups Celery chopped

5 Carrots sliced

4 cups Vegetable Broth

2 little cans of Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup Red Wine

1 can Kidney Beans

2 package frozen Green Beans

1 package frozen Spinach

3 Zucchini chopped

2 tsp Oregano

1 Tbs Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 package Seashell Pasta

Parmesan Cheese for topping

1.  In a large stock pot saute Garlic and Onion until just changing color, add Celery and Carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes.

2.  Add Chicken Broth and Tomato Sauce, bring to boil.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better!  I usually let it go at least an hour if not more, I like my soup veggies quite soft.

3.  Cook the Seashell Pasta.

4.  Add 1/4 cup or so of Pasta to each bowl, cover with soup and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan for 2/21/11

I have belatedly add my name to the Menu Plan Monday list at I'm An Organizing Junkie, check it out!

Menu Plan

Mexican Chicken Soup serve with Mixed Veggies
Fettuccine with Chicken & Asparagus serve with Green Beans
Chicken, Corn & Broccoli Skillet serve with Corn Bread
(Easy) Peanut Butter Chicken serve with Green Beans
Chicken Noodle Casserole
Church Dinner
Dinner with the Grandparents
Meatballs & Pasta serve with Peas

You may have spotted a flaw in my menu plan for this week, eight dinners!   I totally spaced that this weekend is our Young Families Dinner at church.  No problem the meatballs can be prepared and frozen for another day.  Do you ever have those days where nothing is going to get made for dinner unless you can pull it out of the freezer?

Transplanting Seedlings and Other Lessons Learned

I may have mentioned once or twice that I am an amateur gardener.  Therefore, please do not laugh too hard when I admit that this is the first year I have successfully transplanted any of my seedlings out of the starting cells into something larger.

Behold the photographic evidence of my success!

Of the plants I started from seeds this year 2 types of Leeks, 2 types of Onions, 3 types of Tomatoes, Basil, 2 types of Peppers, and Tomatillos everything sprouted, yeah!  The tomatoes seem to be really healthy and happy little plants so they got transplanted first.  I ended up with 10 Brandywine plants, 10 Matt's Wild plants, and 6 Glacier Salad plants.  Lesson learned, don't start too many seeds!!!  Of the 24 seedlings I had for each variety I culled them down to these little lovelies.  I have no room for all these plants in the garden and am hoping to give them away.

Second lesson realized this week: starting leeks and onions inside is just silly.  They take up space and require weeks under the lights and in the end I won't get that many plants for my efforts.  Thus I am dreaming up some sort of cold frame system for the newly emptied flower bed in front of the house, more info and photos to come!

Surf & Turf

This recipe came from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook.  I really like this cookbook.  I will admit that I liked it so much when I borrowed it from the library that I purchased it.  I have only purchased three cookbooks for myself ever.  I usually borrow them from the library and photocopy the recipes I would use again.  Thus many of my Menu Plan items do not have recipe links as they are in my pink recipe binder.

I am not a huge fan of cooking fish.  I really enjoy eating delicious fish I just can't get excited about cooking it.  Aside from grilling salmon on the barbecue once or twice a summer this is the only fish meal I prepare.  Enjoy!

Surf & Turf


4 sprigs of fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
2 Chunky Cod Fillets
8 slices of Smoked Bacon
1 Lemon

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
 Pick the leaves from 2 of the Rosemary sprigs and finely chop.  Drizzle Rosemary with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Sea Salt and Pepper.  Roll Cod Fillets around in the Rosemary mixture until evenly coated.  Lay half your Smoked Bacon slices on a cutting board, place 1 Cod Fillet across them, and wrap the Smoked Bacon around it.  Repeat with the other Cod Fillet and Smoked Bacon slices.
Drizzle Olive Oil on a baking sheet and smear around to coat.  Place Cod Fillets on baking sheet and top with a Rosemary Sprig.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the Smoked Bacon is crisp and the Cod Fillets are cooked through.

Menu Plan for 2/14/2011

Here is my Menu Plan for the week.  I have added my name to the list over at I'm an Organizing Junkie, check out all the great recipe ideas!

Also, I thought I should add that I cook whichever recipe I feel like each day so these are in no particular order.

Chicken & Leek Stroganoff Over Rice serve with Roasted Carrots
Ham and Broccoli Casserole
Turkey Noodle Soup serve with EZ Wheat Bread
Pulled Pork Sandwiches on homemade rolls serve with Coleslaw and Mixed Veggies
Skillet Ham, Cabbage, and Potatoes serve with Green Beans
Apple Walnut Chicken Salad
Dinner with the Grandparents

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I mentioned last post that I have been menu planning for a while now.  It has been a positive change for our family.  Each week I try to include at least 3 new recipes because I get really bored cooking the same meals every week and my hubby gets really tired of eating them!  I would like to share the most delicious new recipe from our menu plan last week, Chicken Tortilla Soup!  Enjoy!


Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb. cooked Chicken, shredded or cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium Yellow Onion diced
1 can diced Tomatoes
1 can Enchilada Sauce
1 can Black Beans
1 can chopped Green Chilies (little can)
2 cloves Garlic minced
2 cups water
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 bay leaf
1 package frozen corn

Place all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours.

Alternatively, if you don’t have cooked chicken, you could put everything in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Remove the chicken and shred or cut up about an hour before you want to serve.  Return chicken to slow cooker.

Menu Planning to Save on Groceries

In an effort to reduce our grocery expenses I am going to participate in Menu Plan Monday.  A fun and inspiring idea I stumbled onto over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.  What a fun site to browse around!

Thus our planned meals for the week:

Barbecued Chicken w/ Green Bean Salad serve with yogurt
Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Homemade Pizza serve with green beans and yogurt
Swedish Meatballs serve with broccoli and veggi noodles
Surf & Turf serve with coleslaw, peas and carrots, and corn muffins
Roast Chicken with Veggies serve with homemade EZ Wheat Bread
Dinner with the Grandparents

I have been menu planning for several months now but the idea of posting this information makes me feel a little more accountable.  Generally speaking I would get too overwhelmed with it all once a week and we would go out to eat.  Thus wasting that food and spending an additional $120.00 or so a month.  We have decided to try and drop that bad habit.  I will let you know how it goes :)

First Gardening Lesson Learned for the Year

I was hoping to be able to post about my beautiful baby leeks last week and the wonderful inexpensive seed pots I was using. 

Dixie Cups!  Like the ones you used in your bathroom for rinsing your mouth when you were a kid, no?  Me neither, my parents never would have spent money on something like that!  Anyway, this blog post I found on the Internet made it sound like such a good idea I thought I would give it a try as I would have had to purchase new peat/plastic pots but just happened to have a stash of Dixie Cups my mother found at a thrift store on hand.

In went the seeds on January 23, 2011 and not even a week later I had beautiful baby leeks poking their cute little stems out of the potting soil.  Lilybug was so excited and so was I.  Upon seeing our first little shoots I removed the seed tray lid as you are supposed to and was disappointed to find mold.  Fuzzy white mold coating the sides of the cups and even spreading into the starting mix on some. 

I gathered up the little starts for the garbage with a heavy heart, the Bug thought I was going to take them out to the garden :(  Lesson learned DO NOT use Dixie Cups!

So we invested in a new seed tray from the local Walmart for $5.00 and here it is complete with new leek seeds.

Hopefully next week I will have new plants to post photos of :)